Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 science fiction horror film. Season of the Witch is notable for being the only film in the Halloween series to neglect the appearance of the character Michael Myers, although he does appear in a trailer for Halloween that is seen briefly in this film. John Carpenter and Debra Hill originally intended for the Halloween franchise to become a series of anthology films. Each film would have its own story, the only connection being that every film would take place on Halloween. However, due to the disappointing box office success of Season of the Witch, Michael Myers was brought back for the rest of the series. The plot of the film is described as "witchcraft meets the computer age", where the mysterious owner of Silver Shamrock Novelties, Conal Cochran, uses the masks made by his company to kill millions of children with computer chips planted inside the masks, which melt into a pile of bugs and snakes when the Silver Shamrock television commercial is aired. Cochran is believed to be an ancient warlock who plans to kill millions of children to resurrect the Pagan aspects of Halloween. The film was released on "collector's edition" Blu-ray by Scream Factory in 2012 and as a standalone Blu-ray by Universal in 2015. Plot On October 23rd, 1982, Harry Grimbridge, a shop owner, is seen being chased by unknown figures in business suits and collapses at a gas station seen clutching a Silver Shamrock jack-o'-lantern mask. Meanwhile, the station attendant, Walter Jones, is watching the television with a broadcast about a standing stone from Stonehenge being stolen, which is followed by a commercial for Silver Shamrock Halloween masks, stating there's only eight more days until Halloween (this foreshadows upcoming events in the film). Grimbridge goes into the gas station and collapses, saying "They're going to kill us all." Jones takes Grimbridge to the hospital, all the while Grimbridge continues ranting "They're going to kill us all." Meanwhile, Dan Challis arrives at his ex-wife's house with masks as gifts for his two children, who are unimpressed with the masks due to their mother having already bought them Silver Shamrock witch and skeleton masks. Dan later receives a call telling him he has to go back to the hospital, where he attends to Grimbridge. Grimbridge is left in his room unattended, where another man in a business suit arrives and kills Grimbridge. The man later kills himself by setting his care on fire. The next day, Dan is seen in bar where he watches a trailer for Halloween that is followed by another Silver Shamrock commercial that says they will be having a "big giveaway" on Halloween at 9:00 PM. Grimbridge's daughter Elle enters the bar asks Dan to help her investigate Harry's death. Dan and Elle investigate, which leads them to Santa Mira, a small town in California inhabited by mostly Irishmen and home of the Silver Shamrock Novelties headquarters and factory. A hotel manager named Rafferty reveals that the town's prosperity is Conal Cochran, the owner of Silver Shamrock Novelties. On October 30th, Dan and Elle tour the Silver Shamrock factory, posing as a husband and wife looking to buy Silver Shamrock masks to sell at their store, with Buddy Kupfer, is wife Betty, and their son Little Buddy. The same evening, Elle is kidnapped, leading Dan to break into the Silver Shamrock factory. Dan is captured by the men in business suits, who are revealed to be androids when Dan kicks one of them. Dan discovers that Cochran has implanted every Silver Shamrock logo in each mask with a computer chip containing a piece of the stolen standing stone from Stonehenge. On the next morning, the morning of Halloween, Dan is forced to watch the computer chip in action. Dan sees the Kupfer family forced into a room where the Silver Shamrock "big giveaway" commercial is aired. The commercial instructs Little Buddy to put on his mask, which he does. As the "magic pumpkin" on the commercial flashes, so does the Silver Shamrock logo on Little Buddy's jack-o'-lantern mask. This kills Little Buddy and melts his head into a pile of insects and venomous snakes, which kill his parents as well. Dan is strapped to a chair and Cochran begins a short lecture explaining his plan to Dan. Cochran says that Dan thought of Halloween no further than putting on masks and trick-or-treating, and that Halloween was the festival of Samhain, when children and animals were sacrificed. A montage shows children around the world trick-or-treating on Halloween wearing Silver Shamrock masks and trucks with loudspeakers remind them to be home by 9:00 to watch the "big giveaway". Cochran places a Silver Shamrock skeleton mask on Dan's head and turns on the television in the room, meaning Dan will die as well when the commercial is aired. Cochran wishes him a "happy Halloween" and leaves the room. Of course, Dan escapes by kicking and smashing the television and frees himself from the straps and escapes through a vent. Dan calls his ex-wife and tells her to get rid of the children's Silver Shamrock masks, but she believes that Dan is still jealous that the children didn't like his masks and ignores him. Dan finds Elle and they go to the computer room where the standing stone from Stonehenge is being kept, where they set off a chain reaction that destroys the factory, kills Cochran's team of scientists, and Cochran himself. As Dan and Elle leave, Elle attacks Dan, who discovers that she is not in fact the real Elle but another android. Dan eventually destroys the android by knocking its head off. Right before 9:00 PM, Dan arrives at the same gas station seen at the beginning of the film, where he calls the television stations and tells them to pull the Silver Shamrock commercial. When a child wearing a Silver Shamrock witch mask approaches the television, they turn to two channels that pull up "technical difficulties" screens, revealing that the two channels have pulled the commercial. However, a third channel does not. Dan shouts "Turn it off! Stop it! Stop it!" as the film abruptly ends. Gallery Halloween III Masks.png|The pumpkin, witch, and skull masks from the movie. Halloween III Blu-ray.png|Blu-ray release cover. DPSkull.png|Don Post 2012 reissue skull mask. DPPumpkin.png|Don Post 2012 reissue pumpkin mask. DPWitch.png|Don Post 2012 reissue witch mask. Category:Films